WHO declares end to Ebola in Sierra Leone

The World Health Organization on Saturday declared Sierra Leone free from Ebola, after no new case of the deadly virus was detected in the past 42 days.

People in the West African country took to the streets to celebrate the end of a one-and-a-half-year fight against Ebola.

“Sierra Leone achieved this milestone through tremendous hard work and commitment while battling the most unprecedented Ebola virus disease outbreak in human history,” a WHO statement said.

No new infections within a 42-day period amounts to two incubation cycles of the Ebola virus.

Ebola has killed almost 3,600 people in Sierra Leone since the first case was recorded in May 2014, the country’s WHO representative Dr Anders Nordstrom said.

He said that more than 200 of the deaths were healthcare workers.

Neighbouring Liberia was also declared free of the virus in September. Since then, there have only been a few isolated cases of new infections in Guinea.

Sierra Leone will now be on high alert during the next 90-day phase as it monitors and isolates possible new cases.

WHO commended the government’s strong leadership in mobilizing the necessary resources to fight the highly infectious virus.

“We now have a unique opportunity to support Sierra Leone to build a strong and resilient public health system ready to detect and respond to the next outbreak of disease, or any other public health threat,” Nordstrom said.

Ebola, a virus transmitted through contact with blood and other bodily fluids, causes massive haemorrhaging and has a fatality rate of up to 90 per cent if left untreated.

According to UN data, Sierra Leone is one of the world’s poorest countries. A decade-long civil war that ended in 2002 severely devastated the economy and destroyed infrastructure.

“The Ebola outbreak has decimated families, the health system, the economy and social structures,” Nordstrom said, adding that now was the time to recover.

But scientists have cautioned that the Ebola crisis may not be over yet after a recent study revealed that male survivors can carry elements of the virus in their sperm for nine months.

Tom Frieden, head of the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, which was involved in the study, said many Ebola survivors face ongoing health problems.

WHO estimates that 11,300 people have died after contracting the Ebola virus across Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.